--- title: "Webserver - DreamFactory Documentation" source: "https://wiki.dreamfactory.com/Getting_Started/Webserver" canonical_url: "https://wiki.dreamfactory.com/Getting_Started/Webserver" converted_at: "2026-04-05T06:15:32.251Z" format: "markdown" converted_by: "html-to-md-ai" --- []() # Getting Started/Webserver From DreamFactory Wiki [Jump to navigation](#mw-head) [Jump to search](#searchInput) ## Contents - [1 Web Server Optimization](#Web_Server_Optimization) - [1.1 NGINX Configuration](#NGINX_Configuration) - [1.1.1 Key NGINX Tuning Parameters](#Key_NGINX_Tuning_Parameters) - [1.2 Apache Configuration](#Apache_Configuration) - [1.3 PHP-FPM Pool Tuning](#PHP-FPM_Pool_Tuning) - [1.3.1 Calculating pm.max_children](#Calculating_pm.max_children) - [1.4 SSL/TLS Configuration](#SSL/TLS_Configuration) - [1.5 Reverse Proxy Considerations](#Reverse_Proxy_Considerations) - [1.6 See also](#See_also) # Web Server Optimization The web server is a critical component of your DreamFactory deployment. Proper configuration of NGINX or Apache, combined with PHP-FPM tuning, can dramatically improve API throughput and response latency. This guide covers the essential settings for production DreamFactory environments. ## NGINX Configuration NGINX is the recommended web server for DreamFactory due to its efficient event-driven architecture and superior performance under high concurrency. Below is a production-ready NGINX configuration for DreamFactory: ``` server { listen 80; server_name api.example.com; root /opt/dreamfactory/public; index index.php; # Gzip compression for API responses gzip on; gzip_types application/json text/plain text/css application/javascript; gzip_min_length 256; gzip_comp_level 5; # Increase client body size for file uploads client_max_body_size 100M; # Keepalive connections keepalive_timeout 65; keepalive_requests 1000; location / { try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$query_string; } location ~ \.php$ { fastcgi_pass unix:/run/php/php8.2-fpm.sock; fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name; include fastcgi_params; # Buffer and timeout settings for large API responses fastcgi_buffer_size 32k; fastcgi_buffers 16 32k; fastcgi_read_timeout 300; } # Deny access to hidden files location ~ /\. { deny all; } } ``` ### Key NGINX Tuning Parameters In the main `nginx.conf` file, adjust the following global settings: ``` worker_processes auto; # Match the number of CPU cores worker_connections 4096; # Max simultaneous connections per worker multi_accept on; # Accept multiple connections at once ``` Enable gzip compression to reduce bandwidth usage for JSON API responses. This is especially important for endpoints returning large datasets. ## Apache Configuration If you are using Apache instead of NGINX, ensure the following modules are enabled: ``` sudo a2enmod rewrite deflate headers ssl sudo systemctl restart apache2 ``` A minimal Apache virtual host configuration for DreamFactory: ``` ServerName api.example.com DocumentRoot /opt/dreamfactory/public AllowOverride All Require all granted Options -Indexes +FollowSymLinks # Enable compression AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/json text/html text/plain text/css application/javascript ``` `AllowOverride All` is required for DreamFactory's `.htaccess` routing rules. Without it, all API routes will return 404 errors. ## PHP-FPM Pool Tuning PHP-FPM (FastCGI Process Manager) manages the pool of PHP worker processes that handle API requests. Proper pool sizing is critical for handling concurrent API traffic. Edit your PHP-FPM pool configuration (typically at `/etc/php/8.2/fpm/pool.d/www.conf`): ``` [www] ; Use static process management for predictable performance pm = static pm.max_children = 50 ; Or use dynamic management for variable workloads ; pm = dynamic ; pm.max_children = 50 ; pm.start_servers = 10 ; pm.min_spare_servers = 5 ; pm.max_spare_servers = 20 ; Recycle workers after handling N requests (prevents memory leaks) pm.max_requests = 1000 ; Slow request logging for debugging request_slowlog_timeout = 10s slowlog = /var/log/php-fpm-slow.log ``` ### Calculating pm.max_children The formula for determining the maximum number of PHP-FPM workers: ``` pm.max_children = Available RAM / Average PHP process memory ``` For example, on a server with 4GB of RAM dedicated to PHP-FPM and an average PHP process size of 50MB: ``` pm.max_children = 4096MB / 50MB = ~80 ``` Reserve memory for the operating system, database, and web server. A conservative rule is to allocate 60-70% of total RAM to PHP-FPM. ## SSL/TLS Configuration Always serve DreamFactory APIs over HTTPS in production. A recommended NGINX SSL configuration: ``` server { listen 443 ssl http2; server_name api.example.com; ssl_certificate /etc/ssl/certs/api.example.com.pem; ssl_certificate_key /etc/ssl/private/api.example.com.key; ssl_protocols TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3; ssl_ciphers HIGH:!aNULL:!MD5; ssl_prefer_server_ciphers on; ssl_session_cache shared:SSL:10m; ssl_session_timeout 10m; # HSTS header add_header Strict-Transport-Security "max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains" always; # ... rest of server block } ``` ## Reverse Proxy Considerations When running DreamFactory behind a load balancer or reverse proxy (e.g., AWS ALB, Cloudflare, HAProxy), configure the following in your `.env` file: ``` # Trust proxy headers for correct client IP detection TRUST_PROXIES=* # If the proxy terminates SSL HTTPS_FORCE=true ``` Ensure the proxy forwards the `X-Forwarded-For`, `X-Forwarded-Proto`, and `Host` headers so DreamFactory can correctly identify client IPs and generate proper URLs in API responses. ## See also - [PHP and Laravel](/Getting_Started/Php_Laravel) - [Database APIs](/Getting_Started/Database) Retrieved from "[https://wiki.dreamfactory.com/index.php?title=Getting_Started/Webserver&oldid=863](https://wiki.dreamfactory.com/index.php?title=Getting_Started/Webserver&oldid=863)" [Categories](/Special:Categories): - [Nginx](/Category:Nginx) - [Apache](/Category:Apache) - [Php-Fpm](/Category:Php-Fpm) - [Getting Started](/Category:Getting_Started)